Principal Systems Engineer

Salary: Up to £60,000 (DOE)

Locations: Bristol, Stevenage, or Bolton (relocation support available)

Working model: Hybrid – typically 3–4 days on-site per week due to project requirements

Clearance: Must be a British or a Dual UK with British citizenship

Be at the forefront of defence innovation

Copello are supporting a leading Defence client in their search for a Principal Systems Engineer. They will be joining the Systems Design Emerging Portfolio & Capability team, where you’ll shape the future of Complex capabilities for the UK and partner nations. You’ll be applying your systems engineering expertise at the very front end of the product lifecycle.

This is your chance to work on projects that truly matter—pushing the boundaries of what’s possible and safeguarding our armed forces.

The Role

No two days will be the same. You could be:

* Collaborating with multi-disciplinary teams to create innovative system concepts

* Leading your own work packages, co-ordinating technology specialists, and shaping cutting-edge engineering approaches

* Gaining valuable experience across the full spectrum of systems engineering techniques

* Building leadership skills and mentoring the engineers of the future

This role offers a rare mix of technical depth and breadth, alongside opportunities to grow into leadership, project management, or technical expert roles.

What we’re looking for

We want engineers with experience in any of the following areas:

* Requirements capture and Use Case analysis

* Concept assessment & design trade studies

* System architecture design and functional modelling

* Performance assessment & behavioural analysis

* Verification, Validation & Certification

* Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE)